Predicting consumers’ intention to purchase sporting goods online: An application of the model of goal-directed behavior

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to apply the model of goal-directed behavior (MGB) as a research framework to investigate consumers’ behavioral intention to purchase sporting goods online. Design/methodology/approach: Mall intercept sampling was used to collect data from Korean consumers who have the experience of purchasing sporting goods online. After the elimination of invalid responses, total 314 valid questionnaires were used for further analysis. Findings: The results revealed that attitude, subjective norm, positive and negative anticipated emotions had significant influences on consumers’ desire to buy sporting goods online. Moreover, the frequency of past behavior and desire played significant roles in influencing on Korean consumers’ intention. Further analysis revealed that male consumers had higher levels of positive attitude, subjective norm, positive and negative anticipated emotions, desire, intention, frequency of past behavior toward the online purchase of sporting goods than female consumers did. It also found that male consumers’ desire had a significantly stronger influence on behavioral than female consumers did. Research limitations/implications: The study suggests the benefit and gender-based targeting strategies in marketing sporting goods online. The primary limitation of this study was that respondents were all Korean online consumers of buying sporting goods. Future research should apply MGB to different countries or regions to generalize the results of this study. Originality/value: The findings of this study provide a better understanding of Korean consumers’ intention to purchase sporting goods online and gender differences in their decision-making process.